The Bloody Babe of Cape Hatteras
by tribbletrash
Summary: It was New Year's Day of 1813 when the schooner Patriot and the ex-vice president's daughter disappeared. (Theodosia Burr Alston/Angelica Hamilton pirate AU, tw for domestic violence)
1. Chapter 1

It was New Year's Day of 1813 when the schooner Patriot and the ex-vice president's daughter disappeared.

It had been raining hard all night and day, and the captain was likely a bit tipsy from the pitiful excuse for a New Year's celebration they'd had the night before. The fact that they were just passing Cape Hatteras, notorious for its deadly shallow banks, certainly contributed to the recipe for disaster, but they didn't crash. It was the pirates that got them.

Theodosia Burr Alston was sitting in the hold of the ship trying to convince herself not to be sick when she heard a dull thud from the main deck. Figuring they'd run dry or hit a rock- it was the Outer Banks, after all- she raced up to the deck in a panic, searching for a lifeboat. Upon reaching the deck, however, it became clear that whatever was happening was far worse than hitting a sandbar.

A tall figure stood at the bow, dark wavy hair flowing about her shoulders, her rapier sword pointed casually at the captain's throat. Theodosia gasped. "The Bloody Babe."

The pirate laughed. "Oh, call me by my real name, won't you? I know it's been years, but don't say you don't remember me." She whisked off her tricorner hat to reveal a face Theo had thought she'd never see again.

"Miss Angelica Hamilton," she whispered, feeling faint. This couldn't possibly be happening.

Angelica nodded in reply, a small smile alighting her face. "Miss Theodosia Burr. Or should I say Mrs. Philip Hamilton," she added teasingly.

"If only," Theo replied, a hint of wistfulness in her voice. "You're wrong on both counts, I'm afraid. It's Mrs. Joseph Alston now."

Angelica's face darkened. "I take it you're not quite as enamored with him as your father would have you be."

"How could you have guessed?" Theo deadpanned. "It was for the money, of course," she confirmed quietly.

"So your father hasn't improved much in the financial department, I see. Perhaps he could have taken a lesson from mine," Angelica smirked.

"After all these years, we're still keeping this rivalry up?"

"Of course," Angelica said lightly. "Your father was the one who shot him, so you're one to talk. Us Hamiltons, we don't forgive and forget." Theo couldn't tell whether or not she was joking.

"Nor do the Burrs. We just prefer to keep quiet about our grudges, rather than, ah, publishing hundred page letters denouncing our political enemies."

Angelica laughed, surprised at Theodosia's impressive retaliation. "Just like the old days, isn't it? Miss Theodosia, you still know how to banter!"

The captain, Overstocks, cleared his throat, but stopped mid cough when Angelica's sword tapped his Adam's apple. "Don't mean to interrupt, but Mrs. Alston, how did you come to know a pirate?"

Angelica raised an eyebrow. "I'd tell you, but I'd have to kill you." Her eyes darted in Theo's direction, lips puckering slightly. Theo shook her head violently, eyes widening in fear. Overstocks couldn't know. "And it seems Miss Theodosia would rather I didn't, so we'll keep you in the dark, I think. The suspense is half the fun!

"Now, I'm a privateer, which means I didn't board you for nothing. I'm looking for a bounty. And the bounty I choose is, hmm..." She glanced around the ship as if deliberating her choice. "Miss Theodosia!"

Theodosia took a step backward, horrified. "Miss An- Angie- I can't. I need to get back to my father, I can't just..."

"What, just run off with your secret piratess ex lover?" Overstocks and a few crewmates gasped, but Angelica just laughed. "Oops, I told a lie. I'm a privateer, not a pirate. There's a difference, you know. One is a plunderer and killer, and one is a name plunderers and killers call themselves to make their chosen career sound at least semi-legal. My father was a lawyer once, I do know what I'm talking about.

"Anyways," she said, turning to Theodosia. "Thanks to my 'mistake,' the good people of the ship Patriot know. So what are you going to do? Stay and let yourself be carted off to prison for adultery and sodomy, or ride off into the Caribbean with a mad privateer?"

Theodosia didn't know which was worse.


	2. Chapter 2

After a long pause, Angelica sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well, you've taken your time deciding, so I'll make the choice a little easier for you. You're coming with me whether you like it or not."

"Angelica!"

"Theodosia. I do hate to resort to threats, but I have a sword. Now, if you'll all excuse us," she said to the Patriot's assembled passengers, "the lady and I will be on our way. And please do recall I am armed, so I'd not advise interrupting us." And with a mad smirk on her face, she tapped Theodosia on the twice with her rapier, grabbing her by the forearm and steering her to the plank that connected the ships. "Gentlemen, take what you will, but remember the rules!" she called to her crewmates as she disembarked the Patriot, leading Theodosia to the captain's cabin.

The second they entered the cabin, Angelica's belligerent persona fell away like a shadow after sunset. "First off, I am so, so sorry," she murmured, head hung in shame. "Secondly, would you like some wine? It's the good stuff, I swear, got it off a merchant ship last month."

"I'd rather have answers than alcohol. You know I don't drink anyways," Theodosia added reproachfully. "It ruins one's mental faculties. And even if I did drink, I wouldn't on a ship full of pirates."

"Privateers," Angelica corrected, a little annoyed. "And you look like you need it," she said, pouring Theo a brimming glass of Chardonnay and sliding it across the table. Theo eyed it distastefully, making no motion to take a drink. Angelica shrugged. "Fair enough. I suppose I've given you no real reason to trust me." She took the goblet instead, downing it in a single gulp.

Exasperated, Theodosia began to question her. "So. What just happened to my ship? Why did you bring me here? And how in damnation did Alexander Hamilton's daughter become a pirate?"

Angelica blew out a deep breath. "I can explain, I swear." She looked slightly queasy, as if maybe she couldn't explain.

At that moment, Theodosia happened to glance upwards, and through the window she spotted a light bright as a sunrise, but it was still night. "What's- what's that?" she asked, rising from her seat and walking towards the window as if in a trance.

Angelica's lips curled into a small o. "Theo, you don't want..." she trailed off nervously, but it was too late. Theodosia was standing at the massive cabin window, small hands pressed it with fingers splayed as if bracing herself, nose nearly touching the window, squinting off into the distance.

Not too far in the distance, the world was on fire, or at least it seemed that way. Small burning planks drifted on the sea, making the water itself seem to be aflame. At the center of it all was a burning hull labeled Patriot. Theodosia's ship.

Theo whipped around, horrified. "How could you?!"

Angelica hung her head, not meeting Theo's eye. "That's what pirates do, love. We burn and we pillage and we don't leave survivors." She didn't sound so much apologetic as she did world weary, as if she hadn't realized she was signing up for this when she first joined the crew.

Theo noted her word choice- she'd called herself a pirate this time, though minutes before she'd been so insistent that she was a privateer. Maybe right now she didn't want to seem respectable or semi legal.

"I had friends on that ship. Captain Overstocks, Timothy Green. And you couldn't save anyone?"

"I did save someone, Theo. I saved you." Angelica paced back and forth, agitated. "I don't think you get it. My crew? They're barely my crew. They're pirates, for god's sake, you know what they're like. There are no laws to them. Which is nice, I suppose," she added, "because they don't give two shits about having women on ships, or sodomites for that matter. Good luck for the both of us, then." She gave Theodosia a wry half smile. "But on the other hand, I'm scarcely their captain. Before we boarded your ship, we all agreed on one bounty item. One. And if a captain breaks the rules, the crew makes bloody well sure they're not around to do it again." Her voice rose in anger and volume as she spoke. "How do you think I got to be captain? A toe out of line, and they send you to the locker!" she yelled, pointing empathetically to the ocean floor. "You're here because of me, and it's my reputation as captain on the line, so you'd best remember that."


	3. Chapter 3

Theodosia just stood there for a moment, shocked at this outburst. She knew she shouldn't have been surprised- Angelica was a Hamilton, after all, and the family was prone to this sort of explosive behavior, but she'd thought Angelica was a little more mild-mannered. Well, as she'd run away and somehow become a pirate captain, she was evidently not as tame as Theo had remembered.

Angelica sighed, seeing Theo's shell shocked expression. "Sorry. I... I shouldn't have burst out like that. I'm sorry about your ship, your friends."

Theodosia was too numb to do anything but accept the apology with a tacit nod.

"It's getting late. We have a spare hammock somewhere, I believe." Angelica hesitated for a moment. "You're welcome to sleep in my cabin if you want. Of course, it's up to you, but I wouldn't recommend taking your chances with the crew."

Theodosia bit her lip. "That sounds like the best arrangement, yes."

Angelica smiled, a genuine smile this time. It was something, Theodosia realized bittersweetly, she hadn't seen her do in decades.

"This is just like the old days, isn't it?" Theodosia said, crawling into her hammock. "Remember our overnights?"

Angelica laughed. "Ah, yes, the overnights. How could I forget? And somehow everyone still thought you were after Philip!"

"We never did bother to correct them."

"For good reason. Made things a bit awkward for him, I suppose."

"Made things a bit awkward for everyone when... You know."

Angelica was silent. Theodosia turned to try and glimpse her face, but Angelica's back was turned.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that," Theo said.

"No, it's alright." Angelica was clearly lying, but Theo acted as if she couldn't tell. "It's been... what, eleven years now? God."

"Now that I think about it, we haven't seen each other since then. My father thought my poor delicate female heart wouldn't be able to take seeing another Hamilton ever again."

"Yeah, well, I doubt my poor delicate female head would've been able to handle seeing you, or anyone, for that matter," Angelica muttered darkly.

Theodosia pretended she hadn't heard, but the both of them knew she had. Still, she remained silent, nestling deeper into her hammock and attempting to get some rest. She had nearly fallen asleep when Angelica's tired voice rang out through the dark.

"Do you wear corsets now?"

"Pardon?"

"Corsets. You used to hate them so. I recall once your father actually called upon my mother to try and convince you to wear one, but you'd have nothing of it."

"I'm a lady now, Angelica. Of course I wear a corset."

"But do you like them?"

"Nobody likes corsets." Theodosia paused. "But I do believe that out of all the women in our country, I hate them the most."

Angelica snorted. "Glad to hear some things haven't changed. Are you wearing one now?"

"Sadly, yes."

"You do know you don't have to. You're on a ship of privateers, we don't have social expectations or whatnot, that'd be ridiculous."

"I can't, really. There are men on board."

"You say that as if you give a damn about men," Angelica snickered.

Theodosia sighed, realizing this was a valid point. "That's fair. I don't know why I'm the one arguing, really. I'm the one who has to wear it." She swung her legs over the side of her hammock, fiddling with the hard to reach buttons on the back of her dress.

"Need help?"

"No." A pause. "Yes."

"I thought so." Angelica was irritatingly smug. She hopped out of her hammock and stood behind Theodosia, nimble fingers unbuttoning her dress, then unlacing her corset strings.

"Don't look," Theodosia muttered, suddenly self conscious. "Well, don't stare."

"You say that as if I've never seen you in the nude," Angelica said, but turned around all the same as Theodosia slipped off her dress.

Theodosia drew in a deep breath of salty ocean air- it felt like the first time she'd breathed properly in years. "Would you happen to have a spare shirt? I've really no desire to get back into this thing, corset or not," she complained, gesturing at the dress that hung limply at her waist, her torso naked.

"Think there's something over here, yeah," said Angelica, walking over to a battered wooden trunk and rummaging through it. "There might be some bloodstains on this, but it'll work," she said, tossing a wad of white fabric at Theo, which turned out to be a baggy shirt. Theo slipped it on gratefully, kicking her discarded dress aside.

"We could probably sell that somewhere," Angelica mentioned offhandedly. Seeing Theodosia's face, she countered, "What? It's not as if you're going to wear it."

"I'd like something of the Patriot to hold onto," Theo replied coldly.

"Understood." Angelica sounded sheepish. "We'll get you a trunk next chance we get, you can keep it with my things till then."

"So I'm staying?"

This caught Angelica off guard. "I'd assumed you would. I saved your life."

"It was your fault it was in danger in the first place."

"Fair enough. It's just... I've missed you."

It was Theodosia's turn to be taken by surprise. "Don't take this as a promise, but I've missed you too."


	4. Chapter 4

Sunlight streamed through Theodosia's tightly shut eyelids, but she refused to get up. She rolled with some difficulty onto her side so her back was to the window, groaning softly in complaint. She hoped Joseph wouldn't wake her up- she couldn't quite recall if he was at home or the capital, but the bed felt empty (and unusually small) so she assumed he was out of town. It was only then that it registered that she didn't have a window in her bedroom.

It took a moment to gather her thoughts and realize that no, that had not been a dream. She was hostage on a pirate ship with the Bloody Babe, who just so happened to be her ex-lover, Angelica Hamilton, previously presumed dead.

She reluctantly opened her eyes to see if the captain was still there, but Angelica was already gone. She wasn't too surprised by this, seeing as Angelica had a ship to run, but had still somehow hoped that Angelica would have had the courtesy to wake her up, too.

But it didn't matter, really, she concluded. Angelica knew she was a late sleeper, so Theodosia shouldn't waste her time fussing about getting an extra hour of rest. She rolled out of the hammock, bare feet fumbling to stand on the rocking wooden floor. She figured she should get dressed, and begin to move towards her discarded corset, before realizing she really didn't give a damn. She was already wearing a perfectly fine, if slightly baggy, button down of Angelica's, and didn't see a good reason to change.

It wasn't hard to find the main deck- there was really only one exit from the captain's cabin, and it led right there. She found Angelica in a heated argument with a tall angry-looking man, both clutching a spoke of the ship's wheel, Angelica gesticulating wildly in the air.

"I told you, Knott, she's my bounty, and I'll do as I like with her!"

Theodosia stopped dead.

"All I'm saying's, the governor's wife's worth more'n what you let me take."

"The governor's wife?" Angelica scoffed. "Don't be daft, Knott. You heard her, her surname's Alston, not Middleton."

Knott chuckled, amused. "Seems I ain't the daft one here. What's 'is name- Jacob? John? Somethin' of the sort- Alston took office last month. When's the last time you went ashore, Cap'n?"

Angelica's brow furrowed in either confusion or anger, which it was Theodosia couldn't tell, but before she could make her retort, she spotted Theodosia.

"Miss Theodosia, you're finally awake!" A probably fake smile spread across Angelica's face. "Don't mind Knott, he's an idiot," she said, glancing over her shoulder scathingly. "He's only jealous because he used to be in love with me or something."

Knott opened his mouth to protest, but seemed to think better of it. He wandered off, scowling.

"So, your husband's in office, I hear?" Angelica artfully shifted the conversation from Knott to an even more dangerous topic- politics.

Theodosia nodded in reply.

"And as you, Aaron Burr's daughter, married him, I presume he's a Republican."

"Naturally."

Angelica wrinkled her nose distastefully. "Pity I can't vote. As if we need more Republicans in office."

"I'll have to second you on that," Theodosia admitted. "Joseph... Is not the kind of man you'd want leading a state." She grimaced slightly.

"Give me an honest assessment- is he a better governor or husband?"

Theodosia laughed humorlessly. "Is there a third option? Really, neither. He abuses the state nearly as badly as he does me."

Angelica's face drained of all color. "What did you just say?"

Theodosia winced slightly, knowing she'd misspoke. "I didn't mean anything by that, it's just…" She trailed off, not sure where she'd been going with her excuse.

"Don't make excuses, I heard you." Angelica's eyes were wide with an emotion Theodosia couldn't identify, voice hard and cold as stone. Softer, she murmured, "Has he hit you?"

Theodosia couldn't speak- there seemed to be a sort of blockage in her throat, stopping both speech and breath. With a great shudder, she lifted the hem of her shirt, exposing an angry welt that purpled her thigh.

Angelica, for once in her life, seemed at a loss for words. She stood there open mouthed, staring at the wound, apparently unable to speak. A moment later, she snapped out of her trance, spinning around so suddenly her long hair nearly hit Theodosia. "Knott!" she called, voice choked with emotion that she quickly shook away. "Due course for South Carolina, quickest you can get," she commanded, stronger this time.

She turned around to face Theodosia again, face blazing with a sort of hard fury, yet at the same time soft and afraid. "We are going to fix this, Theodosia. Swear by my father's honor."


End file.
